particular English · revision 3245

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1387|origins=la pars}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /pəˈtɪk.jə.lə/, US /pɚˈtɪk.jə.lɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|particuler]],^(AHD 2000)^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|particuler]] (modern French particulier) and directly [[bor|la-lat|particulāris|t=of or concerning a part]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la|particula|t=little part, particle]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) a diminutive of [[m|la|pars|t=a part]] (genitive partis),^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) from [[ine-pro|*pere-|t=to grant, allot]].^(Etymonline) The spelling with -ar was conformed to Latin in the 16th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) It is related to [[particle]] and [[part]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Belonging to a part, not the whole; partial”: before 1387, in Trevisa,^(Barnhart 1988) 1387 in the OED;^(OED 1989) “relating to a single definite thing or person” is from about 1386.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ “Private, personal” is from 1442 (1456 in the OED), now obsolete.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) “Peculiar, standing out from the ordinary” is by the late 15th century.^(Etymonline) The noun meant a part of the body in 1392^(Barnhart 1988) and an individual feature or circumstance probably before 1425;^(Barnhart 1988) “a single instance” is from the 1530s, and ''particulars'', small details, from about 1600.^(Etymonline) In logic a particular proposition is one stated of some members of a class, not all, from 1551.^(OED 1989) The ''Particular Baptists'', who held Calvin's doctrine of particular redemption, are from 1717.^(OED 1989) “Precise, fastidious, attentive to details” is from 1814, in the Duke of Wellington's dispatches.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – relating to a single thing.^(OED 1989)

+ * before 1387 – partial.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1392 – noun, a body part.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1442 – private, personal.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530s – noun, a single instance.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1600 – ''particulars'', details.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1814 – fastidious.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Belonging to one person, group or thing, not general: ''my particular interest''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Separate and distinct from others; [[specific]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # Unusual; worth noting: ''of particular importance''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Paying close attention to details; [[fussy]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(logic)'' Of a proposition, applying to some but not all members of a class.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An individual item, fact or [[detail]]: ''the particulars of the case''.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # ''(in particular)'' Especially.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[overparticular]]

+ * [[particularization]]

+ * [[unparticular]]

+ * [[particularism]]

+ * [[particularity]]

+ * [[particularize]]

+ * [[particularly]]

+ * [[particular average]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[universal]]

+ * [[particle]]

+ * [[part]]

+ * [[parcel]]

+ * [[partial]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}